This invention relates to hose a assembly and to a temperature control system utilizing the invention hose assembly.
There are many industrial applications (for example the manufacture of motor vehicles) where it is necessary to provide a bead of viscous adhesive material for application to a surface of a part to facilitate the attachment of the part to other parts. The adhesive bead is typically provided by a system including an adhesive pump supplying adhesive material to a nozzle which may, for example, be mounted on a robot so as to allow the nozzle to be movable by the robot in any desired motion program so as to apply a predetermined pattern of adhesive beading to the part. In order for such systems to operate successfully, it is important that the viscosity of the adhesive bead be carefully controlled at all times so as to provide a desired and preprogrammed flow of the adhesive bead onto the surface of the part. Control of the rate of flow of the adhesive material involves, among other parameters, control of the temperature of the adhesive. Whereas various temperature control systems have been proposed to control the temperature of the adhesive flowing between the adhesive pump and the nozzle, the prior art temperature control systems are either ineffective to precisely control the temperature and thereby the viscosity of the adhesive and/or are unduly complicated and unduly expensive.